In the silver halide light-sensitive color photographic material for direct visual appreciation, yellow dye-forming coupler, magenta dye-forming coupler and cyan dye-forming coupler are usually used as the color forming material with which a dye image is formed, and to these couplers some, basic properties such as dye-forming efficiency, storage stability of the dye, color reproduction and sharpness of the dye image produced therefrom are usually required.
As a method of improving fastness of a dye image against light, for example, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 3-39956(1991) discloses a method of using anti-oxidants of phenol derivatives or amine derivatives. However, most attempts to improve light fastness, which had been made in the art were either a method of using an anti-oxidant or a method of contriving structures of the dye image-forming coupler itself, and few attempts have ever been reported in order to improve fastness of a dye image against light by the use of a high boiling solvent.
Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 63-11935(1988) and 63-60446(1988) disclose a technique of improving dispersion stability by the use of a polyhydric alcohol as a surface active agent. Moreover, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 55-56867(1980), 49-66329(1974), 63-169639(1988), 1-260437(1989), 2-96743(1990) and 4-131839(1992) disclose polyhydric alcohol as examples of a nonionic surface active agent. In both cases, however, the polyhydric alcohol are used as a surface active agent and the effect thereof is also limited to properties of the surface active agent.
Further, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 4-265975(1992) discloses a method of improving stability of a developing solution against pH fluctuation thereof, by incorporating a monohydric alcohol into a silver halide light-sensitive photographic material. However, it was found that the compounds disclosed in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 4-265975(1992) have substantially no effects on the improvement of the storage stability of the dye image.
Further, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 5-216189(1993) discloses a technique of improving fastness of the dye image against light and restricting a phenomenon that an oily ingredient by exudes onto the surface of a dye image by the use of an ultraviolet radiation absorbent (UV absorbent) which is in the form of liquid under the normal temperature. Still further, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 5-173703(1993) discloses a method of improving light fastness of the dye image and restricting sweating by the use of an UV absorbent having a specific chemical structure, however, these methods relate to a technique of improving anti-sweating of the UV absorbent itself and there is no reference to the improvement of non-exuding property from a layer containing the UV absorbent, and to the fact that the UV absorbent disclosed in the reference has other optical efficacies than those mentioned above.
On the other hand, in recent years, light-sensitive materials are usually processed continuously in a processor installed in the laboratory and, in such processing of the light-sensitive materials, a rapid processing system, in which light-sensitive materials are processes and returned to customers within a short period of time, for example, within the same day and, most recently within a period of a several tens of minutes has become popular. Thus accessibility to rapider processing has become a strong demand. Under such technical background, Eastman Kodak Company has proposed a rapid processing system called "RA-4" for color photographic paper, however, it was found that considerable shortening of processing time often accompanies large amount of fluctuation in the image-forming stability and, especially, in the maximum density of an image during the process.